Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1887-01-13

card bore the same name aud address. The
discovery OF valuable iewelry and fairly iarg,
sum OF money went toward confirming the 20
lice In their theory OF suicide The body was
conveyed to the morgue, where. within. tive
hours, II was visited by woman, tall aud
beautiful, but With wild terror filled ewes, aud
face as pale as the quiet dead.
Yes, 1t was her husband, the BODY they
showed her. She had been waiting dinner for
him, he being later than she expeeed; but sh,
had felt no fear until the messenger came.
and now she knew that he had been murdered
70 she said; and the men were silent before
the terrible ealmness Of her grief and despair
4
Suicide. A clear case, Temporary iusaul
~ Murder impossible on the Underground
Railway.
So the murderer had saiti; so the police said
and so also said the public This general YER.
dict was gratifying to ali three But II wa,
doomed to be disturbed, If not utterly shaken.
AT the coroner's inquest clerk Of the Far
rington Street Station came forward and SPOKE
of the bearded man, who on the night in aaes.
ton, as nearly as possible at half past seven
had taken first-class ticket for Cover street
He remembered the circumstance perfectly.
because the gentleman had forgotten his unl-
brella, which was drs aud fured, aud which
he the witness had called him back to re-
eeive. The ticket collector at Grower Street
did not remember person of that description
thow could he remember every one who pass
ed through the gatesD bet a tirst.class ticket
from Farringdou had been collected at that
! time
The evidence of the doctor who examined
the BODY was still more disturbing 10 the pop.
ulsr theory. Dr. Ford was man In the prime
of life, aud wldower He possessed a cen.
siderable practice was practical, hard-headed.
and, like all practical men. somewhat obsti.
nate, aud he had the reputation of being keen
and clever When, therefore, he stood up ia
the witness-box and gave II as his positive
conviction that the fatal wound in the dead
mans breast could not possibly be self-infict.
ed, he inspired some belief. at least in the
minds of people who knew him we'll The cor
ouer seepticsl but courteous, asked what
grounds the witness had for his opinion.
compared the decessed's arm with the
depth of the wound replied the doctor, and
found that his strength could not have been
| sufficient 70 drive the knife so far, II should
be mentioned that the weapon was a common
| dagger such as may be seen In the window of
| any cutters shop.
| II was here suggested that the knife wac
not driven In by one blow but pressed 10, but
DR. Ford very readily confhted that theory
he began by pointing out the depth of the
wound; much deeper than was necessary TO
kill--the steel had cleft the heart in twain.
Then as to character: II WIS perfectly even
and direct; self-inflicted II would 10 the high
| est probability have been irregular. But that
was not all The suspicious excited by the
circumstances already stated had urged DR..
/ Ford 10 closer examination than he might
otherwise have made, with the result that he
discovered on the skin around the iueision 4
briise, slight, but sufficiently palpable, which
! clearly demonstrated the force with which the
/ haft OF the knife had come In contact with
the surface of the BODY To have oecasioned
| even slight bruisc through thick clothing
that force must have been very considerable
far too great, the doctor argued TO admit of
( the bow having been selfinflicted.
msn, though weak. might be capable OF
| inflieting such blow upon another" added
the witness In that case he would have the
advantage Of distance. in which TO give impetus
to the thrust, which would be denied in an at.
| tempt against himself These interesting
| arguments, although listened to with patience
aud courtesy, failed to snake the opinion of the
authorities, Tie inquest, however, was ad.
| iourued for few days so that Inquiries
might be made concerning the bearded man
described By the railway clerk.
When the proceedings were resumed nothing
had boon heard Of the mysterious stranger
There was nothing unusual about thar, said
the police. A man of extremely nervous and
retiring disposition would instinctiycly avoid
being mixed up In an affair of the kind. and
having no important testimony to offer would
probably keep out of the way As it was con-
sidered that further inquiry was unnecessary
thesfacts at the disposal Of the police being
sufficient, the inquest was brought TO a con-
clusion. In summing up for the iurS the cor
oner weighed the evidence for the theory OF
suicide against the medical opinion, very much
in favor of the former. The strong points 10
that evidence were three-vz: "a the attitude
of the dead man; go the absence of any signs
Of struggle; and CD the fact that Mr. Cowen
had recently Suffered several financial losses
through speculation in stocks. On this last
point several OF the deceased's city friends
gave testimony. Mr.. Cowen, II appeared, was
gentleman Of considerable private fortune
who had been induced several months before
his death TO try his luck on the Stock Elk
change. The results were unfortunate, and il
was asserted that when he met his fate be was
returning home after very ''bad day.
This evidence, which though plausible was
circumstantial was permitted TO overweight
that OF Dr. Ford, which was scientific and pos
tive. Assuming the latter to be correct. IL
was argued. Mr.. Cowen was murdered Was
man be stabbed to death in that bic artery OF
human motion, the Underground Railway and
the murderer, red handed, walk off undetect-
cd' Certainly not! The idea was too absurd
to admit Of argument So thought the POI
lice SO thought the coroner, so thought the
majority Of the public, and so thought the
jury, who returned a verdict Of .felo-de-se
But DIR. Ford was mistaken. and lie had at
least one sincere adherent-the murdered
mans widow Mrs. Cowen understood moth.
ing of medical science; but she knew her nus
band, aud her sublime faith in him was I'M
shaken by his death. Her evidence would
have touched any thirteen men less wooden
than the coroner and his jury, and, supporting
as IL did the medical testimony, have conyinc.
cd aav self-opinionsted persons than the po-
lice authorities. She stated with an air of
simple conviction that shoald have been IRE
sistibIe that her husband was the last man In
the world to have attempted his own life. His
disposition was too hopeful, too bnoyaDt and
sanguine TO admit of such an idea. His pc
cuniary losses did not appear TO vex him in the
slightest degree They were heavy but to
man of his fortune not absolutely serious He
was sunshine itself, she declared. and during
the twelve years of their married life she had
never known him to experience an hours
gloom Finally, he was too fond of bis home,
OF his friends. of his two children, of bis wife,
of all that made life beautiful to him TO have
taken that life himself Yet they called him
a suicide.
Mr. jules Merlin attended the inquest as
witness. His evidence was of a slight aud neg
alive character He had heard no cry or noise
of any unusual kind, and had seen no bearded
man. The tragedy, however, had doubtless
taken place before he entered the train
Mr. Merlin followed the proceedings with con-
siderable interest, and after the verdict he
sought an interview with DIR. Ford.
your arguments interested me profoundly,
DOCTOR he said, ''under the circumstances
scarcely think the verdict proper one"
at was a id improper one" declared the
doctor bluntly As surely as the coroner is
an ass and the jury idiots, Mr.. Cowen was muir
dered.
"But the motiveF' asked the other.
Excuse me, sir. (" replied the doctor, ''but
that question is more like that of an imbeeile
police inspector than Of man OF sense. How
am to tell YOU the motivea I'm nos the mur-
derer don't know him, and can't get in
side his mind. There was no evidence OF
motive"